Oracle Blog

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Oh, What a Weekend

My wife and I spent last weekend driving from Atlanta, GA to Sunnyvale, CA. Wow! That was an excrutiating trip! It took us two and a half days, driving from 6:00am until 2:00am every day. On the up side, we don't need a rental car anymore. On the down side, if I never sit in my car again, it will be too soon.

Here are some observations and stories from the road:

If you are a driver on a US interstate, please, for the love of all things sacred, stay out of the left lane except to pass! I don't understand why people cruise in the left lane. Even worse, quite a few people won't get over at all. They force one to pass on the right. It's not only rude; it's dangerous.

At one point, we were in a line in the left lane to pass a slower vehicle in the right lane. Ahead of me was an 18-wheeler. After we had gotten past the slower vehicle, but before the 18-wheeler could get back into the right lane, some idiot blew by me on the right and then tried to blow by the 18-wheeler. Unfortunately for him, he was beside the 18-wheeler when the 18-wheeler decided to get back in the right lane. The trucker did not see him and came over, forcing him off the road. Lucky for the fool, there was a wide shoulder at that point, and he was able to move onto the shoulder and finish passing the truck. This, boys and girls, is why passing an 18-wheeler on the right is a bad idea.

America is big. Really big.

I feel like I am a much better driver after driving in Germany. On the autobahn one must drive safely and predictably. The system doesn't work otherwise. Besides, after one's gotten used to driving 120mph, anything under 100 is child's play.

Always inspect a mechanic's work. We took our car to Good Year to make sure it was travel-worthy before the trip. They found about $800 worth of work to do. They also did a miserable job. They left parts out. We, of course, didn't double-check them, and we broke down in the middle of Arkansas because of what Good Year had done. Fortunately, we found an Auto Zone in Clarkeston with some very nice employees. They diagnosed the problem and replaced the (literally) burned out parts and only charged us for cost of materials!

One really can tell the difference going from state to state. It's every bit as noticable as going from country to country in Europe.

Surprise, surprise. Gas is only $2.60 a gallon in Oklahoma and Texas. (It's $3.00+ a gallon everywhere else.)

My husband and daughter are on the road right now driving from peachtree city to Sunnyvale. My 24 year old is moving out there. They are leaving oklahoma city right now and on way to Flagstaff.How did the rest of your trip go and did you like Sunnyvale? As a mom, im sitting here worried sick. Her car is an 86 mustang..diane